UK Launch part one

Time for another crazy week as the book is launched in the UK, following successful launches in Australia and New Zealand recently. There will be more details of what went on 'down under' in the news section of the website in the coming weeks. I've also bee doing radio interviews around the world, especially in Dubai where there seems to be a lot of interest this year.

The book has a special place in British people's hearts and extolls many of the best British virtues. For example, I was on TV again last week - they'll get sick of me soon - with Giles Brandreth on BBC TV's One show. Giles had a huge teddy bear collection, though not as big as Jackie Miley of the USA, who had 5,029 different teddy bears, as of 1 May this year.

Giles was selling his collection off for charity and it brought up the very British obsession of collecting items. We were on with Ann Atkins, the largest collector of gnomes and pixies (2,302 unduplicated items) and Tim Leigh (100 unduplicated salt and pepper sachets). It's very much in the tradition of the UK for explorers to go out and document the world in details, much as we do here in GWR.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg! This week we have lots of record breakers coming over to our HQ including, among others, Cathie Jung (who has the smallest waist - it's smaller than my neck!), Leslie Tipton (a contortionist who can fit into a suitcase - we were thinking of loading her on to a carousel in an airport in London but don't I think that they'd let us) and Ken Lee, who does some very cool things with a samurai sword.

We'll be out and about in the GWRMobile (honk if you see us) and Edd China will be driving around in another one of his contraptions - he has the record for the fastest office, fastest furniture and largest shopping trolley/cart. See if you can spot what he's been building this time.

Once the madness and the interview glut is over I'll let you know what stories come out of this cornucopia of record breaking...

Computer game book update

As you know, we're working on a new title at the moment - specifically on the wide ranging subject of computer games. While some of us have Nintendos, Playstations and PCs at home, we've had to learn more about computer games and so, to get into a gamer's mentality (ahem), we've installed some of the top consoles out there in our break out area. It's been interesting to see what everyone in the office likes to play and who is best.

The Wii has been very popular at lunchtime, where you can try a spot of golf or maybe have a game of bowling, but the current favourite is Guitar Hero. There's been some quality thrashing going on at the end of the working day and especially when we had some of our top gamers into the office for a wee party and photo session. Of course, none of us were as good as them, but I'd have to say (if pressed) that I'm best within GWR at the moment as I can pass the first stage at 'expert' level, but Kate, Jane and Matt were all quite good. We've got two 'guitars' now, so there'll have to be a showdown and see who will manage the pressure best!!!

We also took a trip to Leipzig for a games convention - this is where we first saw Guitar Hero and decided that we needed to buy it in the interests of research. From chatting to the real gaming enthusiasts, we got the impression that they were really looking forward to it coming out and there certainly seems to be the demand for this title. It was a great time with some passionate people and it also gave us some more ideas for records - fastest time to play the tetris theme on the piano maybe? - and content for the book so that it's what the gamers want.

The book should be ready by the end of the year and out in February some time, so keep your eyes peeled and try for your highest scores. I'm off to wield my 'axe'...

Celebrity name drop

CLAAANNNG!!! I've been speaking to another global megastar recently. Christopher Lee, star of Dracula, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and The Man with the Golden Gun is going to be entering our hall of fame as, after some research, we have found him to hold three records: most credited screen roles, most swordfights on screen and most connected actor (as in he has worked with more other actors than anyone else). I know there is the 'Six degrees of Kevin Bacon' movement, but the 85 year old British actor seems to be even more ubiquitous. There'll be an update when I get to meet the great man..and I mean great - he's 6 foot 5 inches tall!!

Facial hair frolics

I've had a wonderfully hirsute weekend in Brighton, UK, where I was called upon to act as a judge for the World Beard Championships. The competition was taking place with the help of the Handlebar Club of Great Britain and you can see winners and more competition details at http://www.worldbeardchampionships.com/.

I was judging in the full beard categories. You may thinki that growing a beard is not exactly artistic, but the competition was fierce and had specialist categories - the Verdi (styled moustaches with 10 cm growth), the Garibladi (same, but 20cm growth), full natural beard and full beard freestyle. The winner, Elmer Weisser from Germany ,styled his beard in the fashion of London's famous Tower Bridge! I also got a chance to chat to Karl-Heinz Hille, our record holder for the most years winning the same category - Imperial Partial Beards.

It was a surprisingly racous affair, with men resplended in three piece suits, hats and canes, with as much effort being up into dressing up for the occasion as had gone into the beards. It had the feeling of a rock concert, especially seeing the thousands queuing to get in. It has inspired me to try to develop my facial hair. As well as being in fashion at the moment, it's a great exhibition of manliness, which you don't see very much these days...it's also one of the most acceptable way that men can show off!